Roanoke Delayed Surgery Attorney
If you have a condition or illness that requires an immediate life-saving surgery, your healthcare provider may be liable for harm that results from delaying surgery. Nobody should have to experience harm because of a healthcare provider’s negligence, especially when a life-saving surgery could have been scheduled in a timely manner. One of our experienced Roanoke delayed surgery attorneys can speak with you today about your options for filing a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Elements of a Roanoke Delayed Surgery Claim
If you want to file a surgical error lawsuit against a negligent surgeon for injuries arising out of a delayed surgery, you will need to meet the elements of a medical malpractice claim in order to be eligible for compensation. While you should discuss the specific facts you will need to prove with your Roanoke delayed surgery attorney, the following are the general elements that must be proven in order to win a medical malpractice lawsuit arising out of a delayed surgery
- Doctor-patient relationship existed, meaning that the surgeon owed you a duty of care;
- Surgeon was negligent, which typically means that another surgeon in the same or similar field and geographic region would not consider the surgeon’s behavior to be reasonable under the circumstances;
- You suffered harm; and
- Your harm resulted from your surgeon’s negligence.
Most delayed surgery claims arise out of situations in which a patient received a delayed diagnosis and the specialist failed to schedule a surgery, or out of scenarios in which a surgeon scheduled a surgery later than necessary to properly treat a condition or illness.
Damages in a Delayed Surgery Claim in Roanoke
If a physician or surgeon delays surgery and you suffer harm as a result of the delay, you may be eligible to receive various forms of compensation by filing a medical malpractice lawsuit. Generally speaking, you could be eligible to receive compensatory damages, which are aimed at compensating you for your losses. There are two types of compensatory damages, including general damages and special damages. General damages are sometimes known as non-economic damages, and they include non-monetary losses such as pain and suffering. Special damages are sometimes known as economic damages and include objective, monetary losses such as hospital bills or lost wages. In some situations, if the healthcare provider’s behavior was so egregious, an injured patient may be able to seek punitive damages.
Similar to other states, Virginia has a damages cap on medical malpractice damages. Punitive damages in general are capped at $350,000. Even compensatory damages can be included in the medical malpractice cap, however. For the time period between July 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021, medical malpractice damages are capped at $2.45 million according to Virginia law.
Contact Our Roanoke Delayed Surgery Attorneys
If you need assistance filing a claim after a delayed surgery injury, an experienced Roanoke delayed surgery lawyer at our firm can begin working on your medical malpractice claim today. Contact MichieHamlett to learn more about the services we provide to injured patients in Virginia.
